Retreat!

[DWetzel]

I actually voted for the Immortals, though Gallics would have been an okay choice also. Either way, I don't know if fear is the right word, but when they show up on my doorstep, it's usually going to mean a fight that is going to be a lot less fun than usual. Horses lose their fair share against them, as do even swords of my own, and anything else is just asking to wander into the wrong place and lose a couple of units.

Usually by the time my opponents have Cavalry, I do too (and more of it), and more importantly I know exactly where they're coming from. Also, having two resource requirements means I can usually eliminate the source of one or the other of them, thereby eliminating a future threat.

Edit: And while we're at it, no love for the Rider even being on the list? Those of you who hate 3-move units must REALLY love 3-move units at a time when you haven't got anything more than a 4 attack to try to finish them. At least with cavs, if you have cavs also the kill ratio is much higher.

 

[Globex]

Edit: And while we're at it, no love for the Rider even being on the list? Those of you who hate 3-move units must REALLY love 3-move units at a time when you haven't got anything more than a 4 attack to try to finish them. At least with cavs, if you have cavs also the kill ratio is much higher.

I don't really fear Riders as much as cavalry because:
1. I only face Riders if I am unlucky enough to be situated next to China in the middle ages.
2. I don't usually fight that many wars in the middle ages but I fight a TON of wars in the industrial age.
3. Middle age wars usually are either
-They invade you and you defend
-You invade them and they defend
Middle age wars are very different from industrial age wars where your borders are really pushing against each other and both you and your enemies have large railroad networks to bring tons of units to the borders immediately. In that situation, a three-movement unit would be extremely annoying since you would have to devote a lot of resources to defending weak border cities.

 

[anaxagoras]

The Roman Legionaries deserve an honourable mention as well.

Oh, you're right. I picked cavalry because the 3 moves is very annoying. I almost always forget to block someway through that the AI exploits to my detriment. But usually by the time the enemy has cavalry, I have an effective counter. So I usually find cavalry difficult, but perhaps not fearsome.

Legions, on the other hand, can actually be scary. The defense three and the AI proclivity for good terrain can make a stack of 2 or 3 legions almost invincible. They are sort of like a slow-moving ancient age tank. You can see them coming and plan for them, but you can have a heck of a time getting rid of them. If you are forced into an early war with Caesar, you pretty much need catapults, and I prefer to attack them with horses. Both swords and horses will lose a fair amount of the time, but any sword that loses just dies. At least the horses will run away once in awhile.

But like you, I often just make nice with Rome until knights or cavalry.

 

[darski]

it's quite nice if you happen to be Greece next door to Rome on those occasions.

 

[Mursi lives]

Bab bowman for me.
They need no ressource, they are both offensive and defensive units (exactly what AI needs!), and the babylonian AI always produces a lot of them.

 

[darski]

I just played a game with the Babs next door and I was surprised at how long it took them to make any bowmen. Of course they declared as soon as they had 3 of them so they didn't get to make too many more.

 

[robbyextreme]

I've had problems with Immortals on my current game a lot now. I try to fight them off with Knights but it seems it's 2/1 ratio for them >_>

 

[Taras Bulba]

I've had problems with Immortals on my current game a lot now. I try to fight them off with Knights but it seems it's 2/1 ratio for them >_>

are you attacking the Immortals? you shouldn't be losing badly if you are attacking them.... seeing as Knights have an attack of 4, and Immortals have a defense of 2....

even Knights fortified shouldn't do that poorly against Immortals.... with a defense of 3, and bonuses... and retreat capability if not in a city, they can get good damage on them....

 

[darski]

One thing I liked in my Persian only days was that I could take out more than a few knights with my Immortals. Nice little units they are

 

[Rodrig0]

For offensive units, I fear cavs for the same reasons all have exposed here, 3 moves and a good attack. But seeing how some have mentioned to fear legionaries for the extra defense, I should say that the unit I fear the most of all are infantries. For me those guys actually mean the difference between attacking right away with a horde of cavalries, or waiting 20 more turns or so to have an equal horde of artilleries. Their sacrifice (though you can call it carnage, bloodshed, etc) has taught me to never again attack a healthy infantry defending a city with mounted units.

it's quite nice if you happen to be Greece next door to Rome on those occasions.

Don't forget numidian mercs! They are the reason I fear no enemy in the dark ages... maybe immortals once in awhile are some trouble, but numidians usually keep my cities safe and me confident to have an easy dark age.

 

[Theodora]

In one of my recent games I was shipping reinforcements to my highly valuable petroleum island with a Transport and a Battleship. The enemy's Stealth Sub picked off my Transport full of Mech Infantry and Modern Armors, and left the Battleship there with nothing to do but pick its nose. There seemed to be no defense possible against the Stealth Sub attack.

Now I hate Stealth Subs worse than anything.

 

[Argetnyx]

i dont like them either. a destroyer or two can spot them before they can strike you

 

[mythmonster2]

Three-man chariots due to very, very bad experiences with them, even though they're not that bad. It seems every time I'm near the Hittites on a level above Regent, the chariots are scary.

 

[Argetnyx]

i think the fact that they are so big (the animations) compared to your units. thats one reason why i dont like war elephants

 

[darski]

In one of my recent games I was shipping reinforcements to my highly valuable petroleum island with a Transport and a Battleship. The enemy's Stealth Sub picked off my Transport full of Mech Infantry and Modern Armors, and left the Battleship there with nothing to do but pick its nose. There seemed to be no defense possible against the Stealth Sub attack.

Now I hate Stealth Subs worse than anything.

I haven't seen this yet but I thought that strong defenders were attacked before the lesser items in a stack. How does the stealth sub pick its target? (And can I do the same thing if I build one? )

 

[Argetnyx]

Submarines have whats called 'stealth attack' where they can choose which unit they want to attack. both regular subs and nuclear subs do that. thats why i love to make a fleet of submarines. i dont have to get to the bottom of a huge stack just to get one transport (or 2 or 3), i can just take a sub and pick which one i want sunk.

 

[Exwing17]

Bombers. When the enemy has those, you know the . .. .. .. . is about to hit the fan.

 

[Marsden]

Whatever shows up at the gates of my undefended capital in 3000BC.

 

[Argetnyx]

when i get bombers i fear nothing!!!!

 

[Taras Bulba]

when i get bombers i fear nothing!!!!

when I get bombers, I usually fear the AI getting smart and actually building anti-air defenses.....

frankly, on the levels I play that doesn't happen too much